the power of hugs
by writing-to-music
Summary: Dan has a nightmare. Phil is there with a hug. This was written for the prompt: write a hurt/comfort story in under 750 words (bonus points for bad dreams!)


**A/N: A little something from my old drafts :D**

Dan was dreaming, he knew he was, but he couldn't wake himself up. That mechanism in his brain seemed to have been removed, along with his abilities to process what was happening clearly and to properly process the emotion of fear.

 _The fear felt like it was choking him. As much as it was said that fear is a choking emotion, he didn't think he had ever experienced it in its truest form until now._

 _"_ _What do you mean, you haven't found him yet?" Dan said quietly into the phone. His voice held no trace of threat or menace – only blankness, the hope he had felt seconds ago ripped away._

 _"_ _I'm sorry, it's protocol to call with an update on the situation every now and then," the officer on the other end of the line called. "Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to find-"_

 _Dan hung up, pressing the "End Call" button before he could process what he was doing. His thoughts were a whirlwind, struggling to make sense of the here and now, but only one thing was certain as he collapsed onto a chair._

 _Phil was missing, possibly even worse, and even the police couldn't find him._

 _If this was a movie or a TV show, they would do a time-lapse to when he was found. Dan wished for that time-lapse more than anything as he started to shake._

 _Helplessness seized him as the fear tightened its hold on his throat. There was nothing to do now but wait._

 _He would wait forever._

Dan's eyes snapped open, and they were wet as he did so. He turned on his phone, wincing at the effects of the bright light on his eyes as he checked the time. It was four in the morning, and he had only been asleep for two hours. Late-night Tumblr browsing had kept him up to that ungodly hour, but he was used to having almost no sleep by now.

Turning over, but not going back to sleep, Dan's heart raced as he remembered the exact subject of his dream. He hadn't felt anything like that before, and it was silly to have so much relief at something that never truly occurred.

 _But what if it did?_ His mind was paranoid, yes, but not usually that paranoid.

It couldn't have actually happened. Phil was fine. He was fine. And he was tired.

But still, that nagging feeling from his conscious mind did its best to overcome the feeling of sleep, until it was clear he wasn't going to sleep yet.

Dan sighed, swung himself out of bed, and decided to go to the kitchen for a glass of water. He resisted the urge to open Phil's door and take a look before carefully opening the door to their kitchen.

He thought he was being quiet, but was obviously not enough, as Phil entered the kitchen while he poured himself a glass of water.

"What are you doing up?" Dan asked, voice cracking from sleep.

"I could ask you the same thing," Phil said, raising his eyebrows. "I've been awake this whole time. Insomnia again – how about you?"

"Had a nightmare," Dan brushed it off casually. "But no big deal."

Phil seemed to accept that explanation, until Dan was leaving the kitchen with his glass. He then said quietly, so quietly that Dan almost didn't catch it, "It was big enough to get you up."

Dan stopped, and sighed. There was no repressing Phil's curiosity.

"I dreamt that you were gone," he said, almost too softly for Phil's ears to pick up on it. "You were missing, and the police weren't finding you-"

Phil cut him off with a hug, nearly knocking the glass on the counter over.

Hugs were a person-specific type of thing, but as hugs went, Phil's were amazing (pun definitely intended). He'd had practice with the impersonal hug, for sure, with all of the meet-ups they'd done in the past – but tight, bear hugs were his specialty, the type that could make you relax without realizing it, the type that could make you feel safe.

"It's just a nightmare," Phil mumbled into Dan's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm right here."

"I'm good, of course you're fine," Dan said, breaking the hug, his eyes betraying how grateful he was.

"Go back to bed, Dan. I'm not going anywhere," Phil said, reassuring, safe, _there._

"G'night, Phil," said Dan quietly.

"Good night."


End file.
